gould evans waterjet cuts aluminum lacery for st. teresa's academy

gould evans waterjet cuts aluminum lacery for st. teresa’s academy
photo © assassi productions
all images courtesy of gould evans

throughout the design process of ‘st. teresa’s academy windmoor center’, a catholic independent college in kansas city, missouri, gould evans focused on the idea of balance. achieving harmony between sacred and secular is the very essence of the school’s mission, and was the charge facing the design team. the challenge was reinforced by the duality of the program, which combines the institution’s spiritual heart with technology-rich classrooms and banquet facilities.

elevation
photo © assassi productions

the solution intends to honor the history and embody the vision of a contemporary location for women’s education. the 150-seat chapel’s soft, dappled light and feminine lines of its veil, pulled across the simple interior palette, is meant to be a contemplative space of worship. it is flooded with light and connected to nature in reference to the narrative of st. teresa, the patron saint of lace makers. these features correspond to the defined brick mass of the state-of-the-art study halls, which serve as a banquet room when combined. along the walls, tall windows break down their solidity and visually tie the building to the existing academic campus. the two volumes are unified by a shared lobby that enables all of the occupants to mingle. the collaboration between elements completes the open end of the quad by forming a new gateway to the campus.

(left) entry
(right) chapel interior
photo © assassi productions

the team conducted material experimentation and digital manufacturing explorations to translate the concept of creating a lace scrim into built form. component, finish, and mechanical tolerances were all precisely coordinated and tested with the fabricator to ensure an elegant abstraction of the organic tracery onto the chapel’s waterjet cut aluminum panels.

photo © assassi productions

photo © mike spillers

tracery detail
photo © assassi productions

photo © assassi productions

image by gould evans

project info:

location: kansas city, missouri
architect: gould evans
year completed: 2012
project area: 10,650 SF
address: 5600 main Street, kansas city, MO 64113
owner: st. teresa’s academy
MEP engineer: lankford + associates (kansas city, MO)
structural engineer: PMA engineering (fairway, KS)
civil engineer: olsson associates (overland park, KS)
landscape architect: gould evans
metal fabrication consultant: A. zahner company (kansas city, MO)
acoustic consultant: acoustic design group (mission, KS)
lighting consultant: derek porter studio (kansas city, MO)
construction manager: JE dunn construction (kansas city, MO)

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